Why is my animation is not smooth when first playing?

Question

I have made an animation by changing the value of the horizontal scroll bar of a JScrollPane, something like the transition between the screens of android OS. In the first seconds (up to 10 seconds) of running, if i ask for animation, it is not smooth and has jumping; but after a while that I play with that (ask for animation), it gets completely smooth. Why that happens and more important how to solve that?

I don't mean the first seconds of my animation is not smooth, I mean while I start my program the first times that I ask for animation that is not smooth but later, in the next times, that is smooth.

    final JScrollBar br = mainContainerScrollPane.getHorizontalScrollBar();
        ActionListener toTheRight = new ActionListener()
    {
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
        {
            if (br.getValue() + 140 <= destinationScreenValue)
            {
                br.setValue(br.getValue() + 140);
            } else
            {
                br.setValue(destinationScreenValue);
                currentScreenName = destinationScreenName;
                timer.stop();
            }
        }
    };
        timer = new Timer(10, toTheRight);
        timer.setRepeats(true);
        timer.setCoalesce(true);
        timer.start();

With out any code example showing us what it is your doing, we'd be wasting each others time guessing at what could be wrong — MadProgrammer, Feb 10 '13 at 19:57
sorry, i wrote my code, please notice what is written in bold — Soheil, Feb 10 '13 at 20:15
Because you didn't have any code posted at the time of my comment. — syb0rg, Feb 10 '13 at 20:18
This is a common problem. There's an old (OK, maybe months old) trick -- Run the animation once with it hidden, to get everything "limbered up". — Hot Licks, Feb 10 '13 at 20:27

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

2

Running at 100 Hz is going to saturate the EDT almost immediately, which will collide with normal JVM startup overhead. Some alternatives:

Use the approach shown here to check your animation budget.
Try profiling at a lower rate to find the optimal value for your target platform(s).
Specify an initial delay for the Timer that gets past the startup overhead.
Start with a lower frame rate and ramp up the value, using a shorter delay, after things settle down.

Addendum: Here' are some examples that dynamically vary the animation rate:

A Test of FloatSpring that simulates Hooke's law.
TestAnimatedWindow that dynamically adjusts the bounds of a Window.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

Community

1
1

answered Feb 10 '13 at 20:46

trashgod

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`Start with a lower frame rate and ramp up the value, using a shorter delay, after things settle down` do you suggest that even if the whole animation lasts 1 second? – Soheil Feb 10 '13 at 20:56
2

Under the right circumstances, certainly; for [example](http://stackoverflow.com/a/11233735/230513). – trashgod Feb 10 '13 at 20:58
1

@soheil Take a look at [this](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14789107/how-to-make-this-java-animation-smooth/14796414#14796414). It's an example of scalable animation, where the amount of change is determined by the amount of time that the animation has to play – MadProgrammer Feb 10 '13 at 21:05

Why is my animation is not smooth when first playing?

1 Answers1